Growling Wolverine

The obey giant is Back, and he brought a Posse (E)
March 9, 2001 by: Vy Tran Staff Writer

Michaelangelo had the sixtine chapel, Fitzgerald had the Great Gatsby, and now, we have “The Posse.” Started by Shepard Fairey of San Diego, this new art of sticker propaganda has been growing throughout Southern California. Huge Murals of the infamous obey giant have been called Beautiful masterpeices by some, and vandalism by many.

Shepard Fairey’s purepose for creating this new art is due to the public negligence of street artists and muralists. It is an expressed beleif of this writer and many students of this school that this new art form provokes thought about the system we live in, and fascinates the mind as why it is there.

The anti-Graffiti organizations that are scattered along our California coast beleive that anything posted on a wall is vandalism. whether it is artistic or not. They organized and seek public support against anything that is not a “lifeless wall.” They say,”We thank you, the public and good Samaritan for these fantastic numbers. Only you can stop graffiti vandalism, and put the perpetrators of these crimes where they belong: BEHIND IRON BARS!!!!!!!!!” The Graffiti abatement task force will stand for nothing less than complete elimination of our public artists roaming our community.

These small factions of anti-graffiti organizations show the bluntness and callousness of our system. This is exactly what “The Posse” wants the community to see. Tax payers pay millions of dollars a year for basketball courts, tennis courts, and even skateparks. But there is a lack of opportunity for anyone to express their artistic and creative mind to tjhe world.

It cannot be stressed more to the public that this giant movement isn’t some skate shop sticker stuck up on a wall for no reason. This is simply a question of faith in our system of society. Society is incognito. it has always been like that; yet, in a world as confusing as a never ending maze, “The Posse” helps you find the end of that maze.